I bought a Betta Fish - Any good tips for keeping them happy?

[spamhead]

in the wild, they live in small puddles and jump from puddle to puddle. The smaller the bowl the better for Betas.

Last one I had lived for 1 year.

[skunkworks]

Small bowls are not better for Bettas in any way -- organic waste creates ammonia and nitrites, which are poisonous for any fish. Keeping fish in larger volumes of water allows these by-products to be diluted and therefore cause less harm.

You don't need anything gigantic or with a huge filter though; bettas prefer standing water.

[Duke]

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in the wild, they live in small puddles and jump from puddle to puddle. The smaller the bowl the better for Betas.

Last one I had lived for 1 year.

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OK, we've stumbled across the coolest thing to do with/for a betta.

1. Get large large tank.

2. Put a series of "puddles" in the bottom of the tank, all with water in them. Very their sizes, and so on.

3. Randomly put brine shrimp in various puddles. Mix it up.

The betta will get to jump around and look for the "good" food, and you can put one of those rooted plant things on the side in case it's tired, lazy, or in the mood for some plant life.

It might be fun to automate the "BSDM" (brine shrimp delivery mechanism) so that you just have to fill it up, and then it'll automatically move around and dump a little food every day or something. A video camera might be fun as well, since over time the betta might get quicker when it comes to tracking down the food.

[skunkworks]

Duke, I'm pretty sure you're really looking for a brine delivery shrimp mechanism (BDSM).

[Duke]

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Duke, I'm pretty sure you're really looking for a brine delivery shrimp mechanism (BDSM).

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Indeed. Especially on a site originated by S&M. The puddle jumping could be neatly referred to as "watersports," as well.

[pokeraz]

Fish don't feel any pain.

[TheProbst]

Everyone seems to say change the water once a week. Do not do this or your fish will die. Change no more than 25% of the water each week. They create their own eco system and if you change all the water it totally [censored] their lives up.

[TiK]

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They create their own eco system and if you change all the water it totally [censored] their lives up.

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I'm laughing hysterically reading this, thinking "creat[ing] their own ecosystem" means pooping and pissing where they live.

[z28dreams]

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They create their own eco system and if you change all the water it totally [censored] their lives up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm laughing hysterically reading this, thinking "creat[ing] their own ecosystem" means pooping and pissing where they live.

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He's actually right - I've always been told never to change more than 1/3rd of the water in a tank because of the bacteria buildup/etc that's actually good for the fish. It takes a while for all the phosphates/nitrates/etc to reach an equilibrium.

[TiK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They create their own eco system and if you change all the water it totally [censored] their lives up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm laughing hysterically reading this, thinking "creat[ing] their own ecosystem" means pooping and pissing where they live.

[/ QUOTE ]

He's actually right - I've always been told never to change more than 1/3rd of the water in a tank because of the bacteria buildup/etc that's actually good for the fish. It takes a while for all the phosphates/nitrates/etc to reach an equilibrium.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, he is right. I have a friend who's killed countless fish because she'd change the water too frequently. That [censored] is stressful for the fish and they become catatonic and die.

I don't know why I'm still giggling hysterically over the "create their own ecosystem" statement. I was just thinking of pissing and pooping everywhere and when someone asks me what I'm doing, I want to say "I'm creating my own ecosystem bitches!"